Woman arrested after leaving newborn baby in hospital trash can

A 21-year-old woman has been arrested after being accused of leaving her newborn son in a hospital trash can.

Lucia Garcia went to Staten Island University Hospital complaining of pain but denied that she was pregnant when asked by emergency room staff. She went into the bathroom, gave birth to her baby in secret, and then left him in the trash can. The little boy miraculously survived and was recovered by a member of the hospital cleaning crew in time to save him. He’s currently said to be in stable condition.

Garcia’s father, Ambrosio Garcia, told the New York Post she had insisted she wasn’t pregnant when he took her to the hospital, and that she had hidden the pregnancy from him. “She said she had her period when she came out of the bathroom,” he said with tears in his eyes. “She had a lot of blood on her. Then police went into the bathroom, and another man to clean it. There was a baby boy in there that they found in the trash can.”

A hospital source told the New York Post that Garcia’s bloody condition didn’t go unnoticed by staff and they immediately began examining her to find out what caused the bleeding. “They thought she was hemorrhaging,” the source said.

In New Mexico, a teenage girl was arrested early this week after she also gave birth in a hospital bathroom, and left her baby in the trash as well. Unfortunately, the baby did not survive in that instance. The woman in that scenario said the baby wasn’t breathing and she panicked. “I’m sorry, it came out of me and I didn’t know what to do,” she can be heard saying in a video. “I was just scared, it was not crying or nothing.”

Garcia has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child and reckless endangerment. She was 32 weeks pregnant. Her father said he hasn’t seen his daughter since she was taken by police. “She’s there all alone,” he said. “I feel so bad. I don’t know if she’s okay. I’m sad because I don’t know what I’m going to do. I don’t have money for a lawyer — I don’t make that much. I’m very sad. I feel bad too. I never thought this would’ve happened.”

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